A Test Of Love
by Valkyrien
Summary: AU. Gellert and Albus run the world, Ariana never died. All is well until Albus invites Gellert's only two remaining relatives besides Bathilda - his father and cousin - to a family dinner. Unresolved family issues come to light. Love is tested.


_**DISCLAIMER: THIS BELONGS TO ME, AND THE AU WHEREIN ALBUS AND GELLERT ARE YOUNG, RULING THE WORLD, AND ARIANA NEVER DIED BELONGS JOINTLY TO ME AND MY MARVELLOUS FRIEND FARELLE. THIS IS FOR HER. ALBUS, GELLERT AND ASSORTED OTHER CHARACTERS EXCLUDING GELLERT'S FATHER GERT BELONG TO J.K. ROWLING, WHO IS FABULOUS. LET US GIVE THANKS FOR HER WONDROUS CREATION AND TO HER FOR ALLOWING US TO PLAY WITH IT LIKE THIS WITHOUT GETTING SNIPPY ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF FANFICTION LIKE SOME AUTHORS DO ^**_**V**

_**A TEST OF LOVE**_

Sometimes, Gellert reflected as he signed two death warrants at the same time whilst composing a peace treaty and doing a little tweaking of the magical theory behind his latest self-made curse on a spare bit of parchment, life was very stressful. Obviously, this was all very normal run-of-the-mill stuff for the young man whose titles included Dictator-For-Life and Lord High Chancellor of the New World, but today, he knew, as soon as he Apparated back home to his gorgeous co-ruler of the world, all hell would break loose.

It wasn't that it was Albus' fault, really – not _really_ really – it was rather that, well, Albus liked _routine_, he liked schedules, and he _especially_ liked the concept of family, so every year on the anniversary of their first kiss the two of them retook their vows, every Sunday they had lunch together at precisely three in the afternoon, and every first Tuesday of the month they had a family dinner.

Gellert's only close family consisted of his Aunt Bathilda, his father, and a mad cousin who was obsessed with breeding Kneazles and always had plans when asked to dinner – thank the Gods. His father never made an appearance either because unbeknownst to Albus Gellert had long ago placed the old bastard under the Imperius Curse and made sure that he would always be elsewhere when invited to anything where Albus might be present – the wretched, awful old homophobe couldn't be murdered, Albus would suspect, so Gellert was counting on letting the man die of old age in some far away corner of the world where Gellert could make someone else deal with him. He was so well-Imperiused, in fact, that the old brute didn't even know his son was married to another man, living with him full-time, and happily flying the flag of free, tolerant love despite gender, race, creed, or taste in interior design. And Gellert planned to keep it that way.

Aunt Batty was always a fun dinner guest because all she ever talked about was magical history and what a lovely couple Gellert and Albus were, and that was tolerable. Gellert could listen to old ladies rant on about how lovely Albus and he were for days on end, it tickled him pink to know that however else things might look in the world, at least the old biddies of this life would always be on board with his plans for no better reason than that he looked like an angel and his lover of choice was a gorgeous genius with twinkly eyes.

Yes, Gellert thought as he gazed contentedly at the large portrait of Albus hanging on his office wall, he could not have picked a better soul mate. Although whether or not it was a self-chosen sort of thing or an act of Fate, he wasn't certain, but still. He had stumbled across Albus at a Dark time in his life, metaphorically and in reality, and Albus had lifted him from all of that and made him a new person...Well. Sort of.

He finished off all his desk-work with a flourish, grabbed his cloak, swung it over one shoulder and Apparated back home, thinking as he did that this dinner thing would be as relatively easy to get through as all the others they'd ever had, and that the worst thing that could possibly happen was that he and Aberforth would come to blows. Aberforth always ended up drinking too much wine and saying awful things and Gellert was always ready to knock some decency back into the idiot. Couldn't be helped.

He arrived in his own hall at home smiling, at ease, and breathed in the scents of a fine meal cooking, calling out,

"Albus? Darling, I'm home. Anything I can help you wi – " as he stuck his head round the doorway to the main parlour, his cheerful greeting died a sudden death and he felt his throat seize up in terror. There, on his settee, with his Albus, was his father. And Cousin Katarina.

He slithered into the room, eyes wide and taking in the entire scene, silent and horrified. Albus sat opposite Gellert's father, looking that special sort of vague that Gellert knew meant he was feeling uncomfortable but was too polite and English to say anything and was instead trying to make the best of it. Gellert's father was looking far too alive for comfort and was glaring at Gellert with a hostility that spelled bad things on the horizon. Katarina was staring into space and smelled heavily of Kneazles and cooking sherry – also, her hat appeared to have been designed by a blind straight man with no millinery training and a penchant for colouring things with faeces. Gellert could literally feel himself shutting down, all his faculties closing off in the face of this horrible, horrible situation. In his desperation, he turned to Albus.

"May I see you in the kitchen for a moment..?" He didn't even wait for Albus to reply, simply grabbing his hand and dragging him through the doors, casting a Silencing charm and then taking a brief second to give him a searing kiss hello before giving in to the burning question.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EVERYTHING SACRED ARE THEY DOING IN MY HOME?" he shrieked, gesturing wildly in his frustration and ire, and Albus winced.

"I didn't think you'd be this opposed to their presence, it is, after all a family dinner, dear..." he began in a nervous, placating tone, and Gellert threw his hands into the air and then tore at one or two of his curls in his agitation before pressing three fingers to his forehead and breathing deeply.

"Darling. Those people are _not_ my family. Aunt Batty is family. You and Ari are family. Hell, _Fawkes_ is family. Those people are blights on my existence and you were never meant to meet them," he tried to explain, miserable that all of this was even happening and certain that Albus' kind heart would lead to his getting hurt somehow in this mess.

"I admit your cousin is a bit – _odd_ – and I can't say I applaud her taste in hats," Albus said doubtfully,

"But you're still related to her. And your _father_, Gell, he's never got time for you usually so I invited him especially. He hasn't said two words to me since he asked whether or not I worked for you and I told him we work and live together and have done since before we were married, but well, he's old..."

Gellert laughed brokenly and stepped towards Albus, taking his lover's face gently between his hands and kissing him.

"My darling, your diplomacy and tolerance astound me continuously," he said sweetly,

"But those awful people can't stay. I don't want you to be upset by them, they need to leave before it gets any worse. Be thankful that man didn't speak to you – I imagine he's saving himself for later – but if Ari gets here and they're not gone... I warn you, bad things will happen. These are not cherished relatives, Albus. Aunt Batty's the only good egg among them. They're all a bad lot!" He was aware that he sounded pleading and desperate but damn it all, he would not expose Albus to the full horror of these freaks. He'd sooner kill them. Which actually seemed like a fairly sound plan...

"Gell, I love you. I can handle a few strange relatives – I'm hardly going to leave you because your remaining family members are a little funny, am I? Don't worry. It'll be a quick dinner and once it's done we'll never invite them again if you don't want to. I promise," Albus wheedled, one arm around Gellert's waist and one hand straightening Gellert's lapel affectionately while he gazed at his upset lover with innocent blue eyes and smiled serenely.

"I don't like it," Gellert stated, and Albus nodded.

"I know darling, I know. But it will be over soon and then we'll never see them again."

"But Albus you don't understand – I've taken drastic measures to keep these people out of my life – out of _our_ life! I can't have them around me, I just – please can we invent some excuse and throw them out? We can still have the dinner with Ari and _you-know-what_ – "

"Aberforth," Albus interjected calmly, and Gellert made an expressive face and grumbled.

"Yes, yes, if he must come – but not _them_, dearest, anything but that. Please. If you love me at all." Albus gave him a stern look and tapped him on the cheek.

"Gellert. Be reasonable," he cautioned, and Gellert huffed.

"Alright. If you must subject yourself to them, be my guest. I tried to warn you. But just so you know, I intend to drink heavily throughout these proceedings and you had best take my wand so that I'm not tempted to draw it during the meal," he said sombrely, and Albus smiled and nodded.

"I will. I love you. Now let's not keep our guests waiting."

With a haughty expression firmly pasted on, Gellert followed Albus back into the parlour, just as a house elf announced the arrival of 'Miss Bagshot', and Bathilda herself came in, looking as rosy and serene as ever until she noticed the other two guests already present.

"Katarina," she acknowledged unsteadily, and the other woman looked at her briefly and made a feline sort of yowling noise. Gellert winced.

"And your father, Gellert darling – I never thought I'd see the day," Bathilda continued, and Albus made his way over to her and gave her a hug.

"Aunt Batty, it's lovely to see you," he said warmly, and she giggled and hugged him in return.

"Darling Albus, I can't tell you how nice it is to be here – I know I see you both as often as you can spare the time but it is marvellous to see my two favourite boys doing so well," she rhapsodised, turning her attention to Gellert who emulated Albus' actions and hugged her as well, mumbling a

"Hello, Aunty," as he did so, and she smiled beatifically.

"My dear boy! How are you? Working hard, I suppose? Well, I know the feeling – my book's nearly finished and I can't wait to start researching the new one. How did you manage to get your father to come today? I thought the two of you - ?"

"It was not my idea," Gellert bit off the words with an evil glare at his father out of the corner of his eye and settled Bathilda in the nearest armchair. She seemed to realise that there was still lingering hostility there and nodded at him sagely.

"I understand, dear. Will Ariana and Aberforth be joining us later?"

"I believe they will," Gellert said lightly as he poured himself a generous Firewhiskey and waved away the house elf who clearly wanted to do it for him.

"They should be joining us shortly, yes," Albus corroborated, giving Gellert a concerned little look as his partner resumed glaring at his father.

"Master Aberforth and Miss Ariana, sirs," the squeaky little voice announced in that same moment, and Ariana came tearing past the house elf and threw herself at her older brother, who caught her just barely and teetered a little with the impact.

"Ari! We thought you'd be late!" he exclaimed while she hugged the life out of him and laughed.

"No no no," she sang,

"Tricked you Albus!" and then transferred herself to Gellert like some sort of travelling limpet. The blonde only just managed to avoid being knocked down as she attached herself to her favourite brother-in-law and kissed his cheek loudly.

"Love you, Gell," she told him gravely, and he nodded.

"And I love you, Princess," he said sincerely, giving Albus a meaningful look over the top of her head which was returned with interest. _This is my family_. It came to him with even greater force now. _This is my family_. Albus, Ariana, Aunt Batty... The people who mattered most, in the correct order.

"We were very nearly almost late," Ariana told them, letting go of Gellert and plopping herself down on Aberforth's lap.

"You can't be late, Ari, we can't start without you," Albus said affectionately, and she glowed, then looked over at the two strange dinner guests.

"Who are you?" she asked the pinched-looking old man who was staring angrily at Gellert. The old man looked her over.

"His father," he said stiffly, gesturing at the blonde who knocked back his drink with a vicious determination. Ariana appeared to be totally unconvinced by this.

"Can't be – Gell doesn't have a Father, just like us," she insisted, and the delighted grin that appeared on Gellert's face seemed to assure her of this fact, causing her to add,

"Anyway, you don't look like him. So you can't be. That makes you silly." The supreme conviction on the girl's face and the way she said it as though this were indisputable by anyone's standards had Gellert holding back hysterical giggles and Albus quite without words. There was an awkward silence until the house elf reappeared to tell them that dinner was now served.

Filing in to the dining room, Albus and Gellert sat next to each other on one side of the table, Ariana next to Albus and Aberforth opposite her. Next to him sat Gellert's father and cousin, and at the end of the table Bathilda sat clutching her handbag and looking politely uncomfortable.

They actually managed to get through the first course on the merit of Aberforth telling them all about his new goat-breeding programme without any real issue other than Gellert being simultaneously bored out of his mind and wrapped up in dreams of stabbing his father repeatedly with a fish knife. Albus must have sensed this, for he put a comforting hand on Gellert's halfway through the second course and smiled at him encouragingly – conversation had turned to Bathilda's research process – murmuring,

"See, the world hasn't ended yet." Gellert shot him a dark look but laced his fingers with Albus' nonetheless. Ariana noticed and reached over Albus' plate to pull at their entwined hands impatiently.

"What is it, Ari?" Albus asked patiently, and she let up in her tugging for a second to say,

"Not fair!" and then resumed trying to extricate Gellert's hand from Albus' monopolising clutches.

"Now, Ari, that's rude," Albus told her softly, and she made a face and turned a pleading look to Gellert.

"I want to sit next to Gell," she stated, and he barely restrained himself from groaning.

"I'm sorry Princess, but you can't," he said kindly, and she sniffed as though about to cry.

"I want to sit next to _both_ of you..."

"You can't always sit next to everyone, Ari," Aberforth said calmly, and she considered this.

"Why not?" she inquired, and Gellert took the lack of attention on him as a perfect opportunity to drain his third glass of wine.

"Because then you couldn't see any of us properly," Albus explained, and Ariana smiled widely.

"Clever!" she decided, releasing Albus' hand and returning to her dinner with no further protest.

Albus surveyed his dinner guests. Bathilda and Katarina appeared to be involved in some sort of discussion about an uncle or something – Albus was almost surprised that the strange, grimy-looking woman could speak in real words. Aberforth was entertaining Ariana, and Gellert was trading murderous glances with his father. Perfect. At least things hadn't devolved into violence and shouting yet, as they did every other dinner or so...

By the time they reached dessert, Bathilda was regaling everyone with tales of a goblin she'd interviewed for her book, Gellert was fairly inebriated but no less tense and in full control of his faculties still, and Albus was confident enough that they could get through this without anything dire happening that he forgot himself for a moment and put his hand on Gellert's thigh beneath the table, continuing to eat in relative silence with politely appropriate noises in Bathilda's general direction at the right points of her narrative.

"So. This is what you've been doing with your life since you left. Your mother would be horrified." For a second Albus couldn't say whose voice had risen above the clinking of cutlery and the hum of dinner conversation, but he latched on to the way Gellert sat up straighter, went completely still and fixed his attention on his father.

"Then I suppose she's blessed in that she is not here to see it," he grated, and the old man made a disgusted sound.

"And whose fault is that? I always knew there was something wrong with you, boy, and you've done nothing but prove me right. No formal education completed, head full of ridiculous political rebellion, living with _that_ – " a sharp jerk of his head indicated that Gellert's father did indeed mean Albus, and Gellert's expression turned murderous.

"Shut up. Right now," he said quietly, but the old man laughed derisively and pressed on.

"You never did like to be criticised – pathetic child! Is that why you surround yourself with people like this, to avoid facing your own worthlessness?"

"Gert! Stop it – he's done splendidly, I _really_ don't think – " Bathilda's voice was scandalised but stronger than Albus recalled ever hearing it, and he turned to her and said in an undertone,

"Aunt Batty, would you take Ari into the sitting room please?" and the woman's lips thinned exponentially.

"Yes of course dear," she said stiffly.

"Come on my lovely, let's be going in now, you can tell me all about the garden," she said to Ariana with a warm smile barely clinging to her features. Ariana took her hand willingly and followed her out of the room, and Albus turned back to the fray.

"What's wrong with that child anyway? Send her round the bend too, did you?" the old man sneered, and Gellert rose abruptly, absolutely livid. Weirdly, Aberforth did the same.

"How dare you!" Gellert growled, at the same time as Aberforth snarled,

"There is _nothing_ wrong with Ariana!" and Albus stood up calmly and nodded to his brother.

"I think we can do without your assistance, Aberforth," he said, and Aberforth spared Gellert's father a glare before looking to his brother.

"Get him out, won't you?" he spat, striding out without waiting for Albus to reply, the doors banging shut behind him.

"You vile poisonous old bastard," Gellert hissed,

"I should have killed you years ago – how _dare_ you come into my home and insult my family! I couldn't care less what you have to say about me, I doubt it's anything I haven't heard from you before, but you will not speak ill of the only people who have ever mattered to me and walk away from it!"

"Gellert, please," Albus murmured softly, placing his hand on Gellert's back reassuringly and willing him to calm himself, before turning to his father to attempt to resolve the issue.

"Listen to your wife, boy – seems you've at least managed to find a fair facsimile of a girl to shame the family with," the old man sneered, and Albus gasped at the insult, hurt beyond words, and thus was too slow to prevent Gellert from launching himself across the table, grabbing his father around the neck and beginning to strangle him with great enthusiasm.

"Gellert! Don't!" Albus' horrified cry couldn't be heard over the unpleasant sounds of Gellert's father choking on what appeared to be both what air he was able to form into yet more vile insults, and his own tongue which was in the way of it all. Gellert screaming at his father in enraged German didn't help either.

"Gell, stop it! Don't kill him, stop it, stop – " Seeing no other alternative, Albus drew his wand and restrained Gellert magically, to the benefit of Gellert's father, who was entirely purple and appeared to have lost consciousness.

"What were you thinking? You can't strangle the man in the middle of dinner!" Albus heard his own statement and acknowledged how foolish it sounded but didn't remedy it. He was staring at a Gellert more furious than he had ever seen him, the blonde curls he loved so much in serious disarray and the frankly terrifying expression on his face rendering him unapproachable for a few seconds before Albus recognised the look in Gellert's eyes, put away his wand, and folded him into a tight embrace, feeling Gellert's entire body shake violently and clinging to him anyway.

"Darling, darling, I'm sorry – this wasn't supposed to happen – I never meant for this to happen – forgive me – I love you so much, please don't kill him, please, please don't – " Albus' broken pleas were interrupted by a hacking cough from the man on the floor amidst the wreckage, and Gellert pulled away from Albus fluidly, reaching out an open hand to him.

"Give me my wand," he demanded coldly, and Albus drew back in fear of what he might want it for, hand going to his inside pocket where both their wands resided.

"Gellert, no," he breathed, and the blonde snaked the hand in under Albus' robe and emerged with the wand anyway, Albus feeling suddenly limp and unable to fight him. In some perverse way, he realised, he wanted to see Gellert hurt this person, the man who had made Gellert's childhood a living hell, who had never loved his only child, who had blamed him for the death of Gellert's mother and who couldn't accept that Gellert had lived and made something of his life.

"Don't ask me not to," Gellert said tonelessly.

"I won't kill him." Albus didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed, but they couldn't kill the man here anyway, Ariana and Aunt Bathilda were three rooms away, it was ludicrous...

Gellert pointed his wand at his father, looking at the semi-conscious old man dispassionately, all the anger of before seemingly gone, replaced by cold intent and simple hatred.

"I can't have these people around me – I did tell you no good would come of this, but I don't blame you. This was always going to happen," he said in an aside to Albus, before sweeping his wand across and saying,

"You have no son. You are alone in this world. No one ever loved you, no one ever cared for you, and you never cared for anyone. You have always been alone and that is how you will die. You are without family, without friends, and without love and you shall never have these things. You were never here. No one spoke to you and you saw no one. You will remember only being at home, cold and alone, as always..." The misty threads of the spell sank into the old man's chest wispily, as though lacking any substance, but the weight of them was felt by Albus as he watched the love of his life wipe away the life of his father to avoid the urge to kill him outright. He watched Gellert summon their kitchen elf and instruct her to return the old man to his home and leave him there before coming home and making them all a nice cup of tea. He watched her disappear with Gellert's father, and they both watched as she returned, righted the dining room with her own brand of magic, and left them to make the tea. Only after all of this did he speak to Gellert again.

"I love you," he said, for lack of anything better to say, because he needed to let him know.

"I know he shouldn't have been here. I'm sorry. It was my fault..." Gellert looked at him with too-bright eyes and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about darling. Nothing happened tonight. Let's go and have tea, shall we?" the blonde said, proffering his arm to Albus to take as though indeed nothing had happened, and Albus, mulling over all of this and a little shell-shocked, took his arm, allowed himself to be taken into the sitting room, sat down next to Gellert, took tea when it arrived, watched Ariana laughing with Gellert and Bathilda about some incident with a Kneazle related to them by Katarina who seemed to be much more talkative now she'd had some sherry and had been amongst actual people for a few hours. Aberforth was his usual grumpy self, but leant over to murmur something to Gellert to which Gellert responded with a curt, dismissive nod, and after this he seemed to brighten up quite a bit.

It wasn't until later, when he was in bed and waiting for Gellert to join him that the shock began to wear off. When Gellert got in next to him and reached for him, he moved to lie on Gellert's chest readily, craving the closeness more than ever now.

"Gell... Are you angry with me?" he asked timidly, and Gellert stroked his hair a little before saying,

" Never. Why do you ask?"

"Well – because of earlier!" Albus let the note of distress creep into his reply because he _was_ feeling soundly distressed. He had made a grave error in asking Gellert's father to dinner, in getting him personally and making him come, thinking it would be a good opportunity for the two of them to start talking again and it had been a disaster. By rights Gellert should be upset with him! He had done this, it was his fault! He should never have brought that man into their home...

"Of course not. Nothing happened earlier," Gellert said comfortably, and Albus sat up and stared at him in disbelief.

"No. No, you can not tell me that you are going to ignore this and pretend it never happened. Gell, that isn't healthy and it's not like you – you can't pretend nothing happened!" Albus sounded a little hysterical but that was fine, he _felt_ rather hysterical. Gellert could not possibly mean to carry on this pretence – it was madness to attempt it! Gellert despised that sort of thing, he was made for instant confrontation and quick resolves he was not equipped to draw out conflict and pretend it wasn't there – he wasn't English enough to do that.

"Albus lie back down, and don't shout at me." If Gellert hadn't sounded so unnaturally calm Albus never would have complied, but he did, so Albus sank back into a nervous curled up ball lying halfway on top of Gellert seeking proximity to provide comfort in this strange matter.

"If you're angry with me, please tell me so. Don't pretend as though nothing happened – you disowned your own father at dinner tonight, you can't ignore that!" he insisted, and Gellert sighed and pulled Albus up so he could look him in the eyes.

"Albus. I never had a father. I had a neglectful, useless caretaker who never loved or wanted me. I don't need to be angry or upset because I never had such a person in my life. The person – if you can call it that – I _had_ is gone now, and won't be missed. I have all the family I need in you, and you've given me Ariana through knowing and loving you. That's enough. If I'm really feeling in need of family, I have Aunt Batty. I don't need anything else when I have you," he said seriously, calmly, and Albus looked at him intently, examining his face for any sign of upset or residual anger, and finally he said,

"But it's not _right_..." helplessly, because it wasn't and there was nothing he could do to change it. Gellert smiled at him briefly and shrugged.

"Maybe if she had lived, your mother might have liked me. Perhaps your father, too, had tragedy not befallen you all. But things happen and we can't change them. I don't want to change what happened to me, although it saddens me that your family suffered and that you suffered. My childhood was unpleasant but it's over now. I don't need to dwell on it or try and mend it when what I have now is as wonderful as it is. I'm alright, I promise. I love you," he said gently, trying to explain it to his worried partner, and Albus cupped his face in his hands gently and kissed him for a long, long time. When he drew back to look at Gellert through lowered lashes, his soul mate was looking back with such incredible tenderness that Albus flushed and cleared his throat, feeling a little embarrassed.

"I do love you, Albus," Gellert repeated, and Albus nodded, putting his arms around Gellert's neck and kissing him again.

"I know you do. I love you so much... I always will," he whispered fervently, like a prayer both heartfelt and sincere.

"I know," Gellert sighed, returning the kiss and wrapping his arms around Albus' waist to hold him in place.

"Am I worth it?" Albus found himself asking, in a breathless undertone as though the question must not see the light of day, was too sordid to be spoken aloud, and Gellert frowned.

"Worth what?" he asked, and Albus bit his lip before answering, nervous now that he'd asked and would have to go through with the question in its entirety.

"Is this worth all the years of being alone and miserable?" he asked tentatively, and Gellert smiled at him fondly, eyes starry and bright, but not with tears.

"You're worth all the misery in the world, Albus," he assured him, and Albus smiled a little sheepishly.

"I feel a fool for asking..." he mumbled, and Gellert grinned at him.

"I knew you would ask, you wanted to know. There are no foolish questions," he said firmly, and Albus rested his head on Gellert's chest happily and felt sleep begin to tug at the corners of his mind.

"I love you more than anything," he said before he closed his eyes properly, and Gellert kissed his forehead and held him closer.

"I love you," he replied, noting how Albus smiled and cuddled up to him with a little sigh of pleasure at the words, even half-asleep.

Such a simple thing to say, such an enormous, complex thing to feel...

Albus awoke in the dim grey light of dawn and observed Gellert. In sleep he looked tired and drawn, the emotions of the night before clearly having taken their toll. Tenderly he brushed a stray curl out of Gellert's eyes and wrapped himself around the other man again, enjoying the feel of Gellert's solid, real, warmth under his hands, the silkiness of his curls on his cheek. This was where he was meant to be, this was his home. He could and would love Gellert as he deserved to have been loved always, he would make certain that Gellert would never again feel unwanted or unloved. He would protect him from anyone who might make him feel that way, no matter the cost. He would shoulder some of the heavier burdens Gellert dealt with and make things easier for his already damaged darling. With that shining goal at the front of his mind, he drifted off again.

Later, when they both woke, had breakfast together and then went to their separate offices to deal with the running of the Realm, Gellert was calm and collected. When a subordinate came in with a death warrant for him to sign, the order for execution to be carried out within the hour as requested, he signed it with ease and without a single hesitation. No one questioned the name on the document, because it was nothing to be questioned. And when he went to have lunch with Albus, his beloved didn't flinch when Gellert produced the document and said mildly,

"I thought you didn't usually order warrants for execution, darling." Instead, Albus looked him in the eye, smiled and said,

"I wouldn't have, but I felt I ought to run it by the proper authority before taking any direct action alone. After all, our New World is built on order and cooperation, is it not?" and Gellert smiled at him in return, waved his wand over the document, which incinerated and burnt to nothing, and replied,

"It is built on nothing, if not love and trust." Albus' relieved smile was brighter than anything Gellert had ever seen.

"I quite agree, my love..."


End file.
